Pumps



1965 e. H. FORSYTH ETAL 3,203,738

PUMPS Filed March 14, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 L Q a Aug. 31, 1965 e. H. FORSYTH ETAL 3,203,738

PUMPS Filed March 14, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 31, 1965 G. H. FORSYTH ETAL 3,203,738

PUMPS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 14, 1963 1965 e. H. FORSYTH ETAL 3,203,738

PUMPS Filed March 14, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Ins-mall 1965 e. H. FORSYTH ETAL 3,203,738

PUMPS Filed March 14, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet-S United States Patent 3,203,738 PUMPS George Howard 'Forsyth, Grange-over-Sands, and Joseph Hendrick Taylor, Barrow-in-Furness, England, assignors to Viclrers-Armstrongs (Engineers) Limited, London, England, a British company I Filed Mar. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 265,253 Claims priority, application 'Great Britain, Jan. 8, 1963, 937/63 6 Claims. (Cl. 302-49) This invention relates to pumps.

According to the present invention there is provided a pump for pumping powdered material, the pump comprising an inlet chamber having an inlet, an outlet chamber having an outlet, a rotor having vanes extending radially from an axis about which the rotor is arranged to rotate, a further chamber enclosing the rotor, means associated with each of the inlet and outlet chambers for fiuidising powered material therein, the inlet chamber communicating with the further chamber at a first location around said axis so that fluidised powdered material in the inlet chamber can flow into the spaces between the vanes of the rotor that are at said location, the outlet chamber communicating with the further chamber at a second location spaced around said axis from said first location, and means at said second location for feeding a gaseous medium under pressure into the spaces between the vanes that are at said second location, thereby to displace fluidised powdered material from these spaces into the outlet chamber, the arrangement being such that in operation when the rotor is driven powdered material fed to the inlet chamber is fluidised therein and is conveyed from said first location to said second location by the vanes of the rotor, the material being displaced at said second location into the outlet chamber and delivered to said outlet.

For -a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross-section of a pump for pumping powdered material,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the pump of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section on the line IIIIII of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section on the line 1VIV of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a ventical section on the line VV of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 6 is a section on the line VI--VI of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 7 is a plan View of a part of a rotor of the pump, and

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic representation of apparatus for heating powdered material such as raw cement material.

The pump shown in FIGURES 1 to 7 includes a main casing 1 comprising a lower casing part 2, a middle casing part 2A, and an upper casing part 3. The casing 1 forms two vertical, horizontally-spaced pipes 4 and 5 which are connected to one another by a chamber 6 (see particularly FIGURES 3 and 4). In use of the pump, the pressure prevailing in the pipe 5 is greater than the pressure prevailing in the pipe 4. The upper part of the pipe 4 is sub-divided by a curved partition wall 7 into a material inlet 8 and an outlet 9, the wall 7 being integral with the upper casing part 3.

The lower end of the pipe 4 is closed by a plate 10 which is secured to the lower casing part 2. The plate 10 has a centrally disposed aperture 11 which is intended for connection to a source (not shown) of air or other 3,203,738 Patented Aug. 31, 1965 "ice gas under pressure. A disc 12 of porous material is located between an annular shoulder 13 of the lower casing part 2 and the adjacent surface of the plate 10. A similar arrangement of plate 10 and disc 12 is provided at the lower end of the pipe 5.

A drive shaft 14 passes vertically through the centre of the chamber '6, the shaft 14 being fast in rotation with a rotor 15. The rotor 15 (see particularly FIGURES 3 and 7) includes a plurality of radial vanes 16 which extend outwardly from, and are integral with, a central hollow hub 17 which is keyed to the shaft 14 (see FIG- URE 1). The top and bottom surfaces of the hub of the rotor 15 have a plurality of grooves 18 (see FIG- URE 7) therein, each groove 18 extending radially inwardly from the root between a pair of vanes 16.

The shaft 14 is mounted in ball bearings 19 and 20. Each bearing 19 and 20, or one of these hearings, may be a plain bearing. The bearing 19 is carried by an upper bearing plate 21 which is supported on columns 22 and 23, the columns 22 and 23 being supported on the casing part 3. The upper casing part 3 includes a horizontal wall 24 having a raised boss 25 on the upper surface thereof, the boss 25 being centrally apertured at 26 and having two tapped holes 27 and 28 therein (see FIGURE 4). The shaft 14 passes through the aperture 26. The lower ends of the columns 22 and 23 are entered in the tapped holes 27 and 28, respectively, so that the bearing plate 21 is supported by the upper casing part 3.

The annular space between the shaft 14 and the aperture 26 is sealed by a lantern ring and soft packing arrangement generally indicated at 29. Air or other gas under pressure is supplied to the two inter-connected circular grooves of the lantern ring by way of a bore (not shown) to inhibit passage of powdered material from the chamber 6 along the shaft 14.

The lower casing part 2 includes a wall 3t) (see FIG- URE 4) formed with a depending central boss 31. C01- umns 32 and 33 having screw threaded ends are entered in tapped holes 34 and 35 in the boss 31 and depend from the boss 31. A hearing plate 36 which carries the bearing 20 is secured to the lower ends of the columns 32 and 33. The shaft 14 passes through a central aperture 37 of the boss 31, and the gap between the shaft 14 and the aperture 37 is sealed by a lantern ring and soft packing arrangement generally indicated at 38. The arrangement 38 is similar to the arrangement 29.

The under surface of the wall 24 has a recess 39 therein (see FIGURES 1 and 5) and an orifice 40 leads through the wall 24 to the recess 39. The orifice 4% is intended for connection to a supply (not shown) of air or other gas under pressure. A plate 41 of porous mate rial is secured to the underside of the wall 24 by screws 42 (see FIGURES 1 and 6). The plate 41 may be perforated to improve flow of gas therethrough.

A further orifice 43 (see FIGURE 2) is provided in the wall 24, the orifice 43 serving for connection to a low pressure zone which may be a low pressure gas main or alternatively the suction pipe of an ejector discharging into the pipe 5.

As will be seen from FIGURE 1 the chamber 6 communicates with the pipe 5 by way of a sloping passageway 44. The passageway 44 communicates with the chamber 6 at a location immediately beneath the porous plate 41.

Direct communication between the pipe 5 and the pipe 4 is prevented by labyrinth seals. These labyrinth seals are formed by co-oper-ation between the tips of the blades 16 and the circumferential wall of the chamber 6, by cooperation between the upper surface of the rotor 15 and the lower surface of the wall 24, and by c-o-operat-ion between the lower surface of the rotor and the upper surface of the wall 30. The grooves 18 co-operate with the surfaces of the walls 24 and to provide the radially inner part of each upper and lower labyrinth seal, and the upper and lower edges of the blades 16 cooperate with surfaces of the walls 24 and 30 to provide the radially outer part of these upper and lower labyrinth seals.

Referring now .to FIGURE 8, this figure shows apparatus for heating powdered material, such as raw cement material, by means of the Waste gases of a kiln. The heating apparatus shown in FIGURE 8 includes a plurality of cyclone separators 45, 46, 47, 48A and 433 for separating gases from powdered material. The separators to 483 have their axes vertical, are arranged side by side and each has a gas inlet 49, a gas outlet 50 and an outlet 51 for the material separated from gases in the separators.

The gas inlet 49 of the separator 45 is connected by a duct 52 to a stationary flue structure (not shown) of a rotary kiln (not shown). The gas outlet 50 of the separator 45 is connected by a duct 53 to the gas inlet 49 of the separator 46, and the gas outlet of the separator 46 is connected by a duct 54 to the gas inlet 49 of the separator 47. The separators 48A and 48B are arranged in parallel and a duct 55 connects the gas outlet 50 of the separator 47 to .the gas inlets 49 of the separators 48A and 48B. The gas outlets 50 of the separators 48A and 48B are connected to a waste gas duct 56 which leads to a dust separator or a series of duct separators (not shown) and to a fan which serves to draw gas through the heating apparatus shown in FIGURE 8. The dust separators used may be electrostatic precipitators, cyclonettes or bag separators.

Material to be heated is fed into the heating apparatus through a delivery pipe 57 which opens into the duct 55. The outlets 51 of the separators 48A and 48B are connected by material discharge pipes 58A and 58B and a Y connector 59 to a pump 60. The pump 60 is of the form shown in FIGURES 1 to 7, the connector 59 leading to the .pipe 4 of the pump. The outlet 61 of the pump 60 is connected to a pipe 62 which opens into the duct 54 leading to the separator 47. The outlet 51 of the separator 47 is connected by way of a material discharge pipe 63 to the inlet 64 of a pump 65. The pump 65 is also of the form shown in FIGURES 1 to 7. The outlet 66 of the pump 65 is connected to .a pipe 67 which opens into the duct 53. The outlet 51 of the separator 46 is connected by a material discharge pipe 68, a gas-trap arrangement generally indicated at 69 and a feed pipe 70 to the duct 52 which leads to the gas inlet 49 of the separator 45.

The outlet 51 of the separator 45 is connected by a material discharge pipe 71 and a gas-trap arrangement generally indicated at 72 to a feed pipe 73 which leads to the rotary kiln.

The gas-trap arrangements 69 and 72 each include a branch pipe 74 and a vertical pipe 75. The pipe 74 of the gas-trap arrangement 69 is connected to the material discharge pipe 68, and the branch pipe 74 of the gas-trap arrangement 72 is connected to the material discharge pipe 71. The upper ends of the pipes 75 of the gas-trap arrangements 69 and 72 are connected respectively to pipes 76 and 77 to the inlets 49 of the separators 48A and 4813. The gas-trap arrangements 69 and 72 form the subject of co-pending patent application No. 220,839 new abandoned.

The inlet pipe 57, and the pipes 6-2, 67 and 70 each open into the respective duct 55, 54, 53 and 52 on the upstream side of a convergent-divergent heat exchange section generally indicated at 78. This heat exchange section forms the subject of co-pending patent application No. 220,840, now Patent No. 3,151,913, granted October 6, 1964.

'Each separator 45 to 48B shown in FIGURE 8 has its longitudinal axis vertical and the separators, although shown in the same plane in FIGURE 8, are mounted side-by-side with the vertical axes of the separators 45, 46 and 47 at the corners of a rectangle, the separators 48A and 4313 being mounted side-by-side at the other corner .of the rectangle The heating apparatus shown in FIGURE 8 is similar to that disclosed in our co pending patent application No. 220,841, now Patent No. 3,140,863, gran-ted July 14, 1964.

In use of the apparatus described hot waste gases from the kiln are drawn through each of the separators 45, 46 and 47 in turn and the stream of waste gases is then subdivided and flows through the separators 48A and 48B to the waste gas duct 56.

The cold powdered material to be heated is fed from a supply (not shown) of material and enters the app-a ratus by way of the delivery pipe 57. The stream of hot gases passing through the duct 55 carries the cold powdered material into the separators 48A and 48B by way of the section 78 and the material is heated by the gases. The powdered material and the gases are separated one from the other in the separators 48A and 48B and the material is discharged from these two separators through the pipes 58A and 5813. The gases pass to the waste gas duct 56. The powdered material passing down the pipes 58A and 56B and through the connector 59 enters the pump 60 by way of the inlet 8 (see FIGURE 1). The powdered material within the pipe 4 is fluidised by gas under pressure which is fed to the underside of the disc 12 provided at the bottom of the pipe 4 and which gas passes through the pores of the disc 12. As the rotor 15 turns about the axis of the shaft 14 in the direction of the arrow A (FIGURE 3) the spaces 16A between adjacent vanes 16 successively communicate with the pipe 4 and fluidised powdered material is carried into the inter-vane spaces 16A. Some of the fiuidising gas passes through the spaces 16A and enters the outlet 9. Gas which passes into the outlet 9 is vented into any convenient low pressure zone. As the shaft 14 rotates each space 16A, filled with fluidised powdered material, moves away from the pipe 4 and as each vane 16 passes the edge 4A (see FIG- URE 3) of the pipe 4 another space 16A becomes sealed at its top and radially outer end by co-o eration bet-ween the rotor 15 and the casing part 3, and at its bottom by co-operation between the rotor 15 and the casing part 2.

Each sealed space 16A moves around the shaft 14 until it is vertically below the plate 41. Air under pressure is fed through the orifice 40 to the space within the recess 39 and above the plate 41, this gas passing through the plate 41 from the recess 39 and entering the inter-vane spaces 16A which are immediately beneath the plate 41. The gas passing through the plate 41 displaces downwardly the fluidised powdered material and the fluidising gas which is within these spaces 16A. The gas passing through the plate 41, which gas is, of course, at a higher pressure than the pressure prevailing in the pipes 4 to 5, does not impart kinetic energy to the fluidised powdered material or to the gas which already occupies the inter vane spaces 16A. The powdered material displaced from the spaces 16A passes down the passageway 44 and enters the pipe 5. Gas fed through the disc 12 at the lower end of the pipe 5 by way of the aperture 11 causes the powdered material in the passageway 44 and pipe 5 to be fluidised at the pressure prevailing in the pipe 5.

Upon continued rotation of the rotor 15 the inter-vane spaces 16A, now filled with gas at a pressure above that prevailing in the pipe 4, move towards the orifice 43. This orifice 43 is connected to a zone which, in the use of the pump, is at a lower pressure than the pressure within the spaces 16A as they approach the orifice 43. The gas under pressure in the spaces 16A thus escapes as each space 16A is placed in communication with the orifice 43, the gas passing to the zone of lower pressure. The spaces 16A then recommunicate with the inlet 3 and hence with the outlet 9 so that any excess pressure existing in the spaces is relieved by way of the inlet 9. The spaces are then refilled with fluidised powdered material.

The pressure prevailing in recess 39 is so related to the rate of rotation to the shaft 14 and to the angle subtended at the axis of the shaft 14 by the edges 44A and 443 (see FIGURE 3) of the mouth of the passageway 44 that the powdered material is just displaced from the spaces 16A before each space is rescaled as the trailing one of the vanes 16 defining that space passes over the edge 44A.

The fluidised powdered material within the pipe 5 is carried through the outlet 61 of the pump 65) and up the pipe 62. This material then enters the duct 54 and is carried by way of the section 78 into the separator 47, the material being further heated. The material discharged at the outlet 51 of the separator 47 enters the pump 65 which operates in the same way as the pump 60 and is discharged from the pump into the pipe 67. The fluidised material is carried up the pipe 67, enters the duct 53 and is carried by the gases passing along the duct 53 into the separator 46, the material being further heated by the gases. The material discharged from the outlet 51 of the separator 46 passes by way of the gas-trap arrangement 69 into the duct 52. The gas-trap arrangement 69 serves to prevent gases being fed to the separator 46 through the material discharge pipe 68. The powdered material entering the duct 52 from the pipe 70 is carried through the section 78 in the duct 52 and is further heated, the material then entering the separator 45. The material is then discharged from the separator 45 by way of the outlet 51 and passes via the pipe 71, the gas-trap arrangements 72 and the pipe 73 to the kiln.

We claim:

1. A pump for pumping powdered material comprising: a casing having a first part defining an inlet chamber for receiving powdered material, a second part defining an outlet chamber through which powdered material is discharged, and a third part defining a further chamber, a rotor disposed within said further chamber and having vanes extending radially of a vertical axis about which the rotor is arranged to rotate, means associated with each of the inlet and outlet chambers for fluidizing powdered material therein, said inlet chamber communicating with the further chamber at a first location around said axis so that fluidized powdered material in the inlet chamber can flow into the spaces between the vanes of the rotor that are at said first location and the outlet chamber communicating with said further chamber at a second location spaced around said axis from said first location, said inlet chamber being elongated in the direction of the axis of said rotor and extending above and below the axial ends of the rotor, said inlet chamber having a wall dividing that part of the inlet chamber which is above the rotor into an inlet for the powdered material and an outlet for gas, the outlet for gas being above the vanes of the rotor which are at said first location for receiving gas from the spaces between the vanes at the first location and the inlet for the powdered material being radially spaced from these vanes for feeding material into the spaces between the vanes both radially of the spaces and from below the spaces, mean at said second location above said vanes for feeding a gaseous medium under pressure into the spaces between the vanes that are at said second location to thereby displace fluidised powdered material downwardly from the spaces into the outlet chamber, and a drive shaft for rotating the rotor to convey the fluidized powdered material from said first location to said second location by the vanes of the rotor.

2. A pump according to claim 1, wherein the feeding means includes a porous plate carried by said third casing part, said plate and portions of said third casing part being separated from one another to define a space, and wherein further portions of said third casing part define an orifice for admitting the gaseous medium under pressure to said space from which the gaseous medium passes through said porous plate and into the spaces between the vanes that are at said second location.

3. A pump according to claim 1, wherein further portions of said third casing part define a pressure-relieving opening at a third location, said opening leading to said further chamber and being disposed between said second location and said first location so that each vane passes said third location while travelling from said second location to said first location.

4. A pump according to claim 1, wherein said rotor has a hub from which said vanes extend radially outwardly, and wherein said hub has surfaces defining a plurality of radially extending grooves in each axial end surface thereof, said grooves, in c-o-operation with the adjacent parts of the casing of the pump, forming labyrinth seals to minimise leakage from said outlet chamber to said inlet chamber.

5. The pump according to claim 1 including means at said second location for feeding a gaseous medium under pressure into the spaces between the vanes that are at said second location to thereby displace fluidized powdered material from the spaces into the outlet chamber, said last mentioned feeding means including a porous plate carried by said third casing part, said plate and portions of said third casing part being separated from one another to define a space and said portions of said third casing part defining an orifice of area smaller than the area of said porous plate for admitting gaseous medium under pressure to said space from which the gaseous medium passes through said porous plate and into the spaces between the vanes that are at said location.

6. A pump for pumping powdered material comprising: a casing having a first part defining an inlet chamber for receiving powdered material, a second part defining an outlet chamber through which the powdered material is discharged, and a third part defining a further chamber, a rotor disposed within said further chamber and having vanes extending radially of an axis about which the rotor is arranged to rotate, said rotor having a hub from which said vanes extend radially outwardly, said hub having surfaces defining a plurality of radially extending grooves in each axial end surface thereof, said grooves in cooperation with adjacent parts of the casing of the pump forming labyrinth seals to minimize leakage from said outlet chamber to said inlet chamber, means associated with each of the inlet and outlet chambers for fluidizing powdered material therein, the inlet chamber communicating with the further chamber at a first location around said axis so that fluidized powdered material in the inlet chamber can flow into the spaces between the vanes of the rotor that are at said first location and the outlet chamber communicating with the further chamber at a second location spaced around said axis from said first location, means at said second location for feeding a gaseous medium under pressure into the spaces between the vanes that are at said second location to thereby displace fluidized powdered material from the spaces into the outlet chamber, and a drive shaft for rotating the rotor to convey fluidized powdered material from said first location to said second location by the vanes of the rotor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 941,024 11/09 Mantius 302-49 2,011,133 8/35 Yoss 302-49 2,489,925 11/ 49 Omwake 302-49 2,675,676 4/54 Yellott 302-49 2,680,683 6/54 Obenshain 222-194 2,740,672 4/56 Morrow 302-49 2,858,212 10/58 Durant 222-194 2,879,922 3/59 Vogt 302-49 2,921,721 1/ 60 Brooks 302-49 FOREIGN PATENTS 796,719 6/58 Great Britain.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Examiner. 

1. A PUMP FOR PUMPING POWDERED MATERIAL COMPRISING: A CASING HAVING A FIRST PART DEFINING AN INLET CHAMBER FOR RECIVING POWDERED MATERIAL, A SECOND PART DEFINING AN OUTLET CHAMBER THROUGH WHICH POWDERED MATERIAL IS DISCHARGED, AND A THIRD PART DEFINING A FURTHER CHAMBER, A ROTOR DISPOSED WITHIN SAID FURTHER CHAMBER AND HAVING VANES EXTENDING RADIALLY OF A VERTICAL AXIS ABOUT WHICH THE ROTOR IS ARRANGED TO ROTATE, MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THE INLET AND OUTLET CHAMBERS FOR FLUIDIZING POWDERED MATERIAL THEREIN, SAID INLET CHAMBER COMMUNICATING WITH THE FURTHER CHAMBER AT A FIRST LOCATION AROUND SAID AXIS SO THAT FLUIDIZED POWDERED MATERIAL IN THE INLET CHAMBER CAN FLOW INTO THE SPACES BETWEEN THE VANES OF THE ROTOR THAT ARE AT SAID FIRST LOCATION AND THE OUTLET CHAMBER COMMUNICATING WITH SAID FURTHER CHAMBER AT A SECOND LOCATION SPACED AROUND SAID AXIS FROM SAID FIRST LOCATION, SAID INLET CHAMBER BEING ELONGATED IN THE DIRECTION OF THE AXIS OF SAID ROTOR AND EXTENDING ABOVE AND 